SAN ANTONIO — Some Catholic leaders from San Antonio have been spending time in Uvalde comforting the families impacted by Tuesday’s mass shooting at Robb elementary. So, this morning, the seventh annual arch-bishop’s prayer breakfast became a chance to reflect.
The archbishop’s prayer breakfast had been planned long before the tragedy in Uvalde, but it is the first thing on everyone’s mind. San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who was in attendance, said it was a good chance to support San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller.
“It’s an opportunity for us to hear, from his perspective, what’s happening with the families and also to support him because he carries a very large burden on all of our behalf’s including Uvalde right now,” Nirenberg said.
The Archbishop has been in Uvalde for the past two days with catholic charities offering services to the community after a gunman violently took the lives of nineteen fourth graders and two teachers.
“Right now, Catholic Charities is already in Uvalde,” said Antonio Fernandez, CEO of Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of San Antonio. “We spent the whole day yesterday with Therapists to provide Mental Health services to the community, to the families affected.”
The archbishop said members of the catholic church, which is anti-abortion, should be as concerned about the lives lost to gun violence.
"To be consistent, that's the challenge for believers." San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller said. “If we do not respect every life as a principle, we are not pro-life.”
He said that the work he is most interested involves ensuring that every life is respected.
“Every life is precious,” He said. When asked if that attitude could translate into support for some kind of gun control or policy change, the Archbishop responded: “We hope. We hope.”
“Guns have been the instruments, the tools for the many deaths and shootings in the United States,” he said.
He even invoked the second commandment, comparing the way people in the US treat guns to the worship of idols.
“Guns are considered idols in our country and particularly here in Texas,” García-Siller said. “And until we surrender, and we stop idolatry, and we see people first before us, we’ll be able to be consistent with our message, faithful to the Gospel values and faithful to God.”